Manchester City appear to have learned their lesson on Cole Palmer, based on what they have now done with Callum Doyle.
Earlier this week, Wrexham agreed a package worth around £7.5million for Doyle, and both Manchester City and Wrexham have now confirmed the 21-year-old’s move.
Doyle becomes the latest departure from City, who have sold, released or loaned out more than 20 players between the senior ranks and the U21s this summer.
The Citizens sometimes receive criticism for their tendency to sell a lot of their best young players.
However, it doesn’t look as though they will make the same mistake they made with Cole Palmer any time soon.
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Callum Doyle in action for Manchester City v Southampton in Premier League 2.
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
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Callum Doyle deal includes buyback option and sell-on clause
Palmer began his youth career with City before completing a move to Chelsea in 2023 for around £42.5million.
At the time, the Citizens opted not to insist on any clauses during negotiations with Chelsea.
This is because those at City did not deem Palmer to be “indispensable” for Pep Guardiola’s side.
As we all know, this turned out to be a huge mistake and, since then, City have been more proactive with negotiating such clauses when selling players.
This was the case with James Trafford, and City reaped the benefits when they re-signed him from Burnley.
Mike McGrath of The Telegraph has now reported on X that City have done the same with Doyle’s Wrexham deal.
The Citizens have reportedly included a buyback option worth £7.5million, as well as a sell-on clause for 25 percent of the fee from his next move.
#MCFC have a buyback option on Callum Doyle's deal to Wrexham worth £7.5m. There is a 25% sell on
🔴🔴🔴🔴🏴🏴🏴🏴
— Mike McGrath (@mcgrathmike) August 21, 2025
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Should Doyle go on to impress – and perhaps help get Wrexham in the Premier League like Trafford did with Burnley – then City will have the opportunity to sign him again.
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The possible catch regarding Callum Doyle and Manchester City
However, there is one potential catch about the prospect of Doyle returning to City.
The player himself admitted to the Wrexham media team that he had been looking to leave City for a while.
Doyle played for Sunderland in 2021/22, when they were in League One, and then took in loan stints at Coventry, Leicester, and Norwich.
During his time on City’s books, he never made a single competitive senior outing for Guardiola’s side.
With that in mind, Doyle may well decide against returning to City, based on his prior experience at the club.